Rheological characteristics of nitrate glycerol ether cellulose gel based on phase separation in ternary system

By non-solvent-induced phase separation, nitrate glycerol ether cellulose (NGEC) gels were formed in ternary NGEC/acetone/ethanol system. The rheological behaviors of NGEC gels were investigated using dynamic rheological measurements. The final compositions and morphologies of NGEC gels were influenced by the initial solvent/non-solvent (acetone/ethanol) ratios and NGEC concentrations. In addition, the effect of initial acetone/ethanol ratios on the characteristics of NGEC gels is different from the effect of NGEC concentrations. The critical strain of NGEC gels decreased almost with increasing NGEC concentration of gels by increasing initial acetone ratio, but it increased with increasing NGEC concentration of gels by increasing NGEC concentration beyond a certain concentration in 2/3 (w/w) acetone/ethanol solution. For all gels, the storage modulus (G′) and loss modulus (G′′) of NGEC gels rapidly increased with increasing NGEC concentration of gels. In addition, the curves for G′ and G′′ were temperature sensitive throughout the entire temperature sweep, which implied that the interactions between NGEC/solvent could be disrupted upon heating to higher temperatures.